Peshawar - Three-day polio campaign will start in Chitral district today (Monday) to inoculate 71,105 children against the crippling disease.

Arrangements for the drive were discussed at a meeting held here at Provincial Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), with Additional Secretary Health (polio) & Coordinator EOC Abdul Basit in the chair. Representatives of the Health Department, UNICEF and WHO were also present on the occasion.

A trivalent vaccine (tOPV) will be administered in the door-to-door vaccination drive in Chitral to help boost immunity of children against all types of poliovirus. The meeting was told that a total of 71105 children would be administered polio drops in the upcoming campaign in all 24 union councils of Chitral district, for which a total of 519 teams have been constituted, out of which 464 were mobile teams, 35 fixed, 15 transit and 5 roaming teams.

Also, more than 1,500 security personnel have been deployed in the district to ensure safety of the polio teams and smooth running of the campaign. Speaking on the occasion, Coordinator EOC Abdul Basit appealed to the parents to support the government in eliminating the menace from the country by vaccinating their children in every round of campaign.